A developer is proposing to build a 26-story condominium tower at the spot where the Orange County Museum of Art sits in Newport Beach. The museum has plans to relocate to Costa Mesa, next to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

A developer is proposing to build a 26-story condominium tower at the spot where the Orange County Museum of Art sits in Newport Beach. The museum has plans to relocate to Costa Mesa, next to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

NEWPORT BEACH – With the Orange County Museum of Art eventually moving to a new home in Costa Mesa, a developer is proposing a 26-story condominium tower for the site in Newport Center.

The project by Related California Urban Housing LLC would involve demolishing the 23,000-square-foot museum at 850 San Clemente Drive over a period of two months, according to a report prepared for the city. Construction would take 26 months, the report said.

The tower would have 47 two-bedroom, 2.5-bath condos and 53 three-bedroom, 3.5-bath condos ranging from 1,750 square feet to 4,950 square feet, the report said. Most would have private balconies.

City officials will hold a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to get public comments on the scope of the environmental report they should prepare and environmental issues that need to be addressed. The meeting will be in the Civic Center Community room at 100 Civic Center Drive.

As proposed, the condo tower would be 295 feet high – making it one of the tallest buildings in Orange County.

A nearby office tower at 520 Newport Center Drive is 315 feet and the City Tower in Orange is 302 feet. The Irvine Co.’s 20-story office tower at 650 Newport Center Drive, the headquarters for bond trader Pimco, is 295 feet – the same height as the proposed condominium tower.

Councilman Ed Selich, who represents the area, said he hasn’t seen much information on the project. He said he could imagine the city and residents asking that the environmental report look at such issues as height, traffic, air quality and shading for other structures.

“I was at a meeting this morning, and people were abuzz,” Selich said.

The Orange County Museum of Art – built in 1977 and expanded in the 1990s – in 2008 announced its intention to move to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, next to the Renee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.